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#alien biology
fetlockflowers · 5 months
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🦎Speculative Biology animation for the Cardassians.🐊
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caputvulpinum · 2 years
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Note: I claimed a community copy for this game, so while I did not pay money, I received it for free.
Exquisite Biome was pointed my way by one of my Discord community members as something I'd be interested in, and oh my God, they were right. As a professional ecologist and wildlife conservationist--and a fan of all things spec evo/bio--Exquisite Biome is everything I love conceptually, and it even had the audacity of being fantastically designed.
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Caro Asercion on itch.io has managed to make a masterpiece of a GM-less game for one to three or four players, using only a single deck of cards. It's incredibly simple and intuitive, with much of the interaction coming from the human element. In fact, I loved the test run I gave it. Exquisite Biome (is it named after Exquisite Corpse? I'm pretty sure right?) uses drawn cards to guide player(s) through the designing of a speculative species, from the creation of the biome it lives in, to its most notable features and how it interacts with other species within the ecological web. Each designed species culminates in a scene played out, almost akin to a nature documentary, of an important part of the animal's life--giving greater insight into both its daily existence and its most important evolutionary aspects.
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I can't give too much detail as to how, exactly, the game parts function, or what they are, but they are precisely balanced between detailed and loose enough to allow players the structure/random element needed for fun and guiding through the process, while leaving the vast majority of the imagination up to them. A traditional Exquisite Biome session is intended to be done with creating three unique animals, seeing how they all intersect with each other, but there are also other options for various modes of gameplay given as well!
My favorite aspect of Exquisite Biome, however, may be what isn't in the game just yet. The system itself is so perfectly intuitive and genius that it lends itself instantly to conceptualization of further deep-dives into specialization (speciation?) of different biomes and concepts--expansion packs, in short. What would a variant of EB look like in a xenobiological setting? Or perhaps an entire variant dedicated to rainforest or tropical reef biomes (or the various listed ones, even--even deserts have great biodiversity!)? Caro Asercion has managed to hit upon something here that I would really hope to see find success, because I can envision it having an incredibly dedicated and loyal fanbase for years and years to come.
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I'd recommend this game to anyone who loves nature documentaries, who is passionate about life sciences, and who enjoys worldbuilding natural elements for tabletop settings! For fans of Monster Hunter, In Other Waters, Pokemon, Pikmin, and Wingspan, definitely give it a look to see if you'd be intrigued!
And, bonus round--a sketch of my own Exquisite Biome's first animal, the Shepherd Spider!
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A highly territorial species of cobweb-spiders, shepherd spiders create various 'pastures' with their webs where small insects such as beetles, flies, butterflies, and aphids can safely use as nursery habitats. By hiding within the webbed pastures, they obscure their location from predators, allowing an easier chance to reach adulthood and pass on their genes.
Additionally, the shepherd spiders tend to avoid immature specimens as much as possible: they prefer to hunt adult prey at the end of its lifespan, or sickly or otherwise 'unfit' food. In doing so, it ensures itself a steady supply of food, keeping a 'pantry', and opportunistically feeding on the young as needed when times are dry.
Shepherds mate for life, and their courtship rituals are based on the large, iridescent eyespots of the chelicerae. During rainy seasons, male spiders will gather up dew and rain and daub them on themselves, magnifying their false eyes to greater proportions and causing bright refractions in the water's reflected curves. A female will choose her mate based on the brightest display. There seems to be a growing subpopulation of males with prominent pseudopupils as well, which may affect apparent fitness during these rituals versus specimens with smaller or nonexistent pseudopupils.
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demonsplendor · 5 months
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18+ reader x alien - “Collector” (NSFT)
Pt 1/3 Your alien partner cums thick orbs of sperm, but he hates it to the point of preventing himself from orgasms. You help come up with a way to help facilitate him finally being able to ejaculate with minimal discomfort.
CW: dysmorphia, sounding
Word count: 1.4k
pt 2.1 pt 2.2 pt 2.3
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
“I wish I could get rid of them.”
“There’s a procedure.”
He rests his head on your chest, the smooth, hard, and cold exterior of his shell-like plating does not feel very uncomfortable.
“I know, but…”
This topic disturbed him as much as the act itself; his ability to pass individually large, globular, masses of sperm. An incompatible vessel, such as yours, would merely collect these undulating deposits of ooze. Your body would uncomfortably, but not unpleasantly, swell as though you were a basket filled with Easter eggs until they began to spill and slip out of you.
You were only aware of this by description and context alone, he had adamantly never wanted to try.
The two of you took on each other in a different way, him riding your strap until he could feel the beginnings. You could too for this much he was willing to show you. You knew where to feel on your own now but he had guided you the first few times towards the base of his bumpy and ridged shaft. It didn’t look any different but if you squeezed you could feel resistance, it felt like a bowling ball concealed in a sock.
It was at this stage that you would thread the long, sterilized rod into the tip’s slit.
His body would ripple, his mandible-like teeth would chatter, and he’d let out a soft gasp as you let gravity take over the long pin.
He was able to excrete an ooze of his own, as you continue to slowly run your hand up and down the length of him, you’d feel the mounting slime on the surface start to run in between your fingers.
He would grip the outside of your thighs tightly, sitting patiently with your dildo embedded within him.
“Twist it.”
You kiss the crook of his neck before using your free hand to oblige, twisting the rod very gently. You’d whisper to him in a caution, “Don’t buck,” and it took him all of his willpower not to.
He lets out a whine, the sound coming of his plated face as a more muffled wheeze. You kiss him again, encouraging him, “You’re doing such a good job.”
You could feel at the base what was once firm and larger than a golf ball now felt like a popped water balloon. You continue to masturbate him, subsequent sperms that were behind the first would be immediately skewered and popped by the rod.
He said that he produced about six at a time; you had never seen it for yourself, or even one an entire one intact, because by the time you did it was just like thick semen with bits of tissue, the outer membrane.
His four-fingered hands were nearly white knuckling, you wanted to kiss the carapace on his chest.
If he were doing this to you, allowing you to be the recipient, you’d be able to.
No, you never suggested it.
You had early on but when he stormed out of the room in an upset, you knew it was a forbidden request to try again.
You liked this arrangement too, though. He liked that he was submissive to you, and he was, but you had a difficult time as seeing yourself as the counterpart. He trusted you enough to divulge that it felt too uncomfortable and disturbing to cum, that he never, ever, masturbated despite feeling intense arousal.
With him as the primary historian, you were able to find some resources and literature on this alien species’ anatomy and reproductive cycle. Together you were able to surmise that if it was passing the sperms whole that felt horrible, that maybe you could pierce them before they exited.
And it worked.
“Please…”
He arches, craning his whole body into you. You nearly have to let go of him to keep yourself balanced. A laugh escapes you, his eagerness infectious, “Hold on, hold on.”
You don’t delay him further but you need to remain careful when you remove the rod. It had gone in slightly lubricated, but now it had more viscous material clinging into it from within.
Twisting it ever so slightly, pulling it up with your sterile hand, you guide it out of him. You are not teasing him, you’re only exercising abundant caution as to not puncture or tear him, but he whines out again.
“Please..!”
“Almost, we’re almost there. You’re doing so good.”
You kiss at his neck, one of the handful of sections that was soft tissue among his otherwise chitinous body.
“You’re doing so good for me.”
The end of rod exits with a schlrp, it causes him to shudder hard. You put the rod down carefully on the table, in the zone that was still sanitized but was the half you’d use when it came out of him.
You’d resume pumping him, and introduce your now free hand to smooth over his tip, bucking your hips a little into him.
“Good boy, have at it now.”
He took no time at all before he began to bounce along with your hips, riding you until he sends, keeping one hand firmly on your thigh and moving his other to join your slipping and sliding hands. It was only a short amount of time before a thick thread shoots out of him, your hands colliding as you both tried to cover him as quickly as possible.
You always tried to, but his hands were larger and he could contain almost all of it. He needed to use his other hand too, moving it to cup underneath himself as you rubbed it all out of him.
Earth-familiar milky white ran into his hands, but there was green and blue mixed in too, the thick outer membrane. You knew you were nearly at the last drop of if, he hanging his head back to lean against you again. He’s panting while he kneads the tip with his thumb, the sensation causing his body to jerk and he croons out in a hitched, “Mm.. a-ahh..”
This entire operation was like clockwork, a container was already prepared next to your feet for him to unceremoniously drop his cupped handful into.
Such an event had just taken place, the two of you lying down after cleaning up. He rests his head on your chest post-coital, and remains silent without completing his thought.
You gently touch his mandibles. They weren’t true mandibles in any sort of Earth sense, they were merely the same shape and function but they were made from bone, they were his teeth.
He finally looks up at you, “I know there’s a procedure, but…”
You wanted to encourage him, whether to continue or to comfort him in knowing he didn’t have to tell you, or that he could say it later.
You move from his face and place a hand on his chest. It’s plated like many parts of his body but this place was slightly more flexible, when you touched him you could feel his heart as though you heard someone knocking from across the house.
”There’s a medical want for them, to collect them. For members of my species on this planet that can… host them,” he says it cautiously, as though not to offend you, but you’re aware of this medical call and feel no upset by it, “and then they’re also… worth a lot of money.”
That they were.
Outside of the desire for reproductive increase on your planet, these globs of alien sperm were highly sought after, both for research and for more nefarious reasons.
He picks his head up suddenly and rolls over you, not applying any weight of course or else he’s suddenly crush you, instead straddling over you.
“Do you think you could come up with a way to try to collect them? In a way that makes it feel less… awful?”
You prop yourself up on your arms.
“You want to try to cum with them intact?”
He makes a sound of discomfort, you reach up to hold his scrunched, otherworldly, face. You tell him softly, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. That is what I mean. But to be collected, not to be…” he trails off but you already understand.
Not to be inside of you.
You brush along his cheek, “I can try to. I can try to design a way that we can collect them without you feeling so much discomfort.”
He breaks away from your hand to chitter his teeth across your throat and neck.
He purrs heavily against you, “I love you so much. Thank you.”
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bluedaddysgirl · 4 days
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Distant cousins of the jungle's stingbat, the aptly named stunbat (Tsealìm in Na'vi) is a native of the Txepìva volcanic plains that hunts by diving from great heights and colliding with their prey head-first, stunning them.
Their head is blunt, with a threefold crest reminiscent of the great leonopterix's dual one, but significantly more ossified. Their neck is thick and muscular, to help support the structure, but also to weather the high velocity impacts.
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The hands, small and with fused fingers in jungle stingbats, are much larger here, and used to catch stunned prey falling from the sky, or pick them off the ground as they swoop down. It also allows stunbats to eat on the fly, as it were, as the plains' chaotic environment doesn't always provide them with safe perching opportunities. 
Stunbats have short, prehensile neural queues that retract under thick, keratinous neck frills. The extra mobility of this limb allows them to make quick connections while in mid-air, front to back, back to back, or belly to belly, the latter being the more commonly seen one, accompanied by a stabilising "handshake".
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The stunbat's vision is excellent. Early research by Eyris Makri with the Tuin clan of the Txepìva showed that their domesticated stunbats were able to spot prey up to 4 miles away, seeing clearly at ten times the distance of their Na'vi handlers. Their primary eyes show a high concentration of foveas, giving them enough focus to clearly distinguish prey moving against the complex backdrop of the plains and lava fields. 
Although the stunbat's barbed tail has lost most of its poisonous sting, it is still used in defence against larger predators. Their best defence, however, remains a Na'vi bow.
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It is hard to tell exactly when domestication started, though the olo'eyktan of the Tau'un clan claims one of his ancestors was the first to tame a stunbat. We're told this happened during the "Time of Long Nights", but dating that event is equally complicated. Current estimations are a minimum of two millenia.
During that time, the stunbat's range remained tied to the volcanic plains of the Txepìva clans, although the species has been observed by Serafiina Hukkala as far out as Mons St. Helen. One must note that the stunbat is unlike our previous study case of the Viperhound, which are bred for various purposes. Interviews with Txepìva hunters (Makri et al.) suggest that their relationship to the Na'vi is similar to that of cats and humans, with multiple domestication events, beneficial to both species. Na'vi led breeding appears to be very incidental, as stunbats tend to fly off to find mates in the wild, rather than mating among their clan's flock.
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This species is significantly larger than their forest cousins.
The most common uses of stunbats are for scouting and hunting. While hunting of small game is extremely similar to what humans once achieved with eagles, stunbats also take part in hunting expeditions for large prey. 
They are used to follow the movements of herds, but also to help separate young calves from their mothers, or the weak and wounded, by dive bombing them (Hukkala et al.) They understand complex orders, communicate with clicks and shrieks, and will come to hang on the queue or harness of their paired Txepìva to share more detailed visuals through Tsaheylu.
This is also how they are used for scouting. Serafiina Hukkala postulated that the stunbats' mated pair lifestyle influenced Txepìva culture by making the act of scouting a couple's task. Scouting, we must remind the reader, is a lot more crucial to the Txepìva, who have no qualms waging war against each other for the domination of water sources and fertile land. Raiding parties, while not frequent, are a banal part of life on the plains. Even small children learning to work with stunbats will be sent on sentry duties, often on the back of a Lenonin Hound. 
The reason mated pairs of stunbats are favoured is because of their long flight range and their ability to connect together in mid-air. This means one side of the couple can move far ahead, and report back to their partner, already extended to the edge of their range. A couple of scouting stunbats effectively covers double the range a single hunter would.
Stunbats are occasionally used to communicate with similar techniques. While one half of a pair can be sent to deliver a message to another tribe, the other remains with their clan (often brooding). The homing individual (whichever has best endurance, as both sexes feed and brood chicks at will) can find its way back to them even if the clan is on the move. More research is needed on their communication capabilities. 
When travelling or staying in temporary camps, stunbats are housed in loose baskets designed to let them hang onto the side. These carriers are custom made by every clan and come in many forms and sizes. Brooding stunbats are carried, either by a Na'vi who will fashion straps to turn the basket into a backpack, or tied to the back of Leonin Hounds.
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In more permanent camps, the Texpiva craft treillis to give them places to hang from. Serafiina Hukkala reported a clan that arranged dried branches and material for firewood as perches, while Eyris Makri stayed with a couple who fashioned fake branches at the top of their tents, like rafters. Both heard reports of clans that house their stunbats along with their livestock, but the practice seemed frowned upon.
The bond between Na'vi and Tsealìm needs further study. It isn't as exclusive as with an ikran, but much more complex than with direhorses. Stunbats bond strongly with a small family node, and more weakly with the extended family and friend group. Tsaheylu is typically only done with their main Na'vi hunters, although the stunbat can be introduced and passed down to children. 
Emergency tsaheylu was witnessed twice by Makri, when a scout had urgent reports and the stunbat was sent ahead. Connection was made with the clan's tsahìk, who had a habit of bonding with every newborn stunbat. The practice, we were told, can be controversial. 
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Hunter depicted without ornaments, to highlight the process of Tsaheylu.
Some clans craft harnesses for hunters to better carry and support their stunbats, while others prefer natural body-to-body contact. The folding or tying of the neural queue to allow for better access to the kuru/tendrils seems universal among all interviewed hunters and scouts. Different styles were observed and will be presented in our published notebooks, after our paper on the use of stunbats in skirmishes and outright warfare, as the Txepìva practice it.
Part II of @straydaddy (art and design) and @bluedaddysgirl (lore concept + final art entry) in-world collaborative study, "Introduction to the Txepiva clans, their nomadic pastoralism and niche selective breeding practices in species of stingbats and viperwolves". On twitter we are Knarme and Bluedaddysgirl
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cucuxumusu · 3 months
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Omega Bruce who wants a pup (duh!), so he goes to a sperm bank to get an anonymous donation. Everything goes well, until he goes to his first checkup and finds out the pup is developing weirdly, and just as he is freaking out, an alpha (Clark) enters the examination room saying "I can smell my pup".
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superfam · 2 years
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So, Kryptonians evolved under a red sun. Their vision would be different compared to what humans see.
With the majority of the light they see being red wavelengths (there are still green/blue wavelengths, but much less so), the cones in their eyes (or whatever analogous structure) would pick up colour differently.
Their blue and green cones would be much more sensitive than their red cones. Even without the powers of a yellow sun, their eyesight would probably be better than humans' (they might even be able to see colours that humans can't)!
However, they would likely be a lot more sensitive to bright lights as they have higher blue and green wavelengths. It would probably be very hard for them to look at (at least in their unpowered state, whether this would change when their cells are yellow sun-powered as they are immune to all sorts of damage is another thing to consider).
My point is: Clark grew up seeing colours differently than his peers. A lot differently. And before he developed his powers under the yellow sun, it's likely he was very sensitive to bright lights.
This is one way that he's always felt he's different. A subtle trouble within him.
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junipershouse · 5 months
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communication in multi-species living spaces
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it's relatively easy to learn a language. what is harder is learning to speak a language. this barrier becomes even more insurmountable when you do not have the anatomical parts to produce a sound used in a language, or don't have the organs to interpret the medium of that language. then, miscommunication isn't simply a case of miscommunication - it's a case of incompatibility. for example. rrikrik is a kkariko, and soh is a ki. kkariko communicate auditorily, using a specialized organ to produce noise alongside their exoskeleton teeth and antennae noises. ki communicate using low frequency waves, and their antennae organ is poised specifically to interpret said waves. kkariko lack any sort of organ to sense low-frequency waves, and ki physically cannot make the noises required to speak kkariko languages. so how can rrikrik and soh communicate?
this is an issue which affects almost every single multi-species living space in the universe. especially more political or industrial spaces, where communication is incredibly important. a lot of time and energy has been invested into figuring out ways that species with drastically different anatomy can still communicate clearly with each other. there are three methods used in tandem among multi-species living environments to ease communication. press keep reading to learn more about them! :3
the first method: common lingua franca and assistive devices
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most sophant species already have hundreds, if not thousands, of languages and dialects spoken within their own species populations. in many cases, a couple of languages may emerge as "lingua franca" among the population, typically due to complex political situations. this lingua franca is often expressed in multi-species environments too.
just because somebody cannot speak a language doesn't mean they can't learn it. there are also plenty of assistive devices used by / fore example, referring back to rrikrik and soh - rrikrik could use a technological device designed to pick up low frequency waves to hear what soh is saying, and soh could use a specialist voice synth program containing a kkariko noise library to communicate in a kkariko language.
this is obviously the most labor-intensive method of communication for all involved. however, it's the most reliable and often the most personable. it feels good to be able to communicate with your friends in a language they understand, and
the second method: universal sign communication
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universal sign communication (USC) is a constructed language developed in the founding age of the ICDCI by a cross-species team of linguists. the goal of USC as a language was to level the playing field by offering up a universal language with a low theoretical accessibility barrier.
USC as a lexicon relies on simplistic movements of limbs, with movements designed to be replicated by those with varying body anatomy. due to this, USC has a "less is more" ethos and relies on the stringing together of movements as opposed to fine motor control and expressiveness, with one sign or movement meaning multiple things depending on context. the only thing that a person needs to be able to communicate in USC is a moderately flexible body and potentially one limb. although some individuals without conventional limbs will simply perform the USC signs with their whole body instead. USC can be modified as a vocabulary to accommodate other more static body plans if needed, too.
this is the most common option when it comes to communicating in a work environment. USC is relatively easy to learn, is easy to understand, and doesn't require any technology. it can also be used in environments where other forms of communication are impossible. almost every cosmonaut knows at least rudimentary USC, and its required to work and live in many astral communities just because of how convenient it is in that environment. USC also has a pictographic "written" form which acts as diagrams in performing the specific signs.
of course, USC is largely inaccessible for those who lack visual senses. whilst there has been an attempt to "translate" USC into a spoken language, it sort of defeats the purpose of Universal Sign Communication. there has been discussion about developing a sort of spoken USC but it's a much more complicated feat due to the diversity of sounds vs the diversity of gestures and movements.
another pitfall of USC is the nature of its vocabulary. because USC was a language designed to be used in a professional environment, its vocab is often limited to professional topics. its easy to tell somebody what a certain lever does using USC, and even ask them how they are and if they rested well, but its significantly harder to chat about that piece of media you just love using USC. and forget about making jokes. some linguists have expanded the USC vocabulary with more casual gestures and signs, but these signs are often considered "non essential" for learners and seen as optional side studies for those more invested.
USC can also be easily misunderstood, especially by beginners. those communicating in USC are reminded to sign slowly and with intent.
the third method: received speakers.
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received speakers are a specialized "memetic-will hybrid" device. "will" is a catch-all term for a grouping of energies exerted by beings onto the complex structure of energies/concepts referred to colloquially as "reality". memetic in this context refers to an idea or concept, translated into language, which can be brought into the consciousness of a being with behavioural changes apparent. this is a very basic description of both terms.
received speakers work by utilizing the memetic affect and will-energy together. the material that the received speaker made of is a sink and an amplifier of will-energy, a conductor of it. (the material used is a potentially-biological "fossil" alloy, found only in a few places.) before use, received speakers need to be calibrated to the specific will-energy of their user. after that, the received speaker will pick up on their user's will-energy and their user's will-energy only. however, a received speaker with no intentionality is useless. intentionality is built with memetic conditioning. the goal of the conditioning is to fix ideas in the consciousness of the user. these ideas are: 1: when the user communicates with a recipient, their intention with their words is transferred to the received speaker. 2: received speakers are able to send the intentionality of the communication between each other using will-energy waves. 3: despite the difference in language, the intention of the words are carried over perfectly to the recipient and they will understand the communication as it was intended. 4: likewise, the user will understand the recipient's communication with the same level of intentionality.
if both will-energy calibration and memetic conditioning are successful, then the received speaker will allow individuals with vastly different languages to communicate as if speaking the exact same dialect of the exact same language. they'll sense the communication almost instantly, and it'll be in their own voice, which can be a bit confusing to get used to. sarcasm and double-truth does not translate well using received speaker, which can be a good thing if you feel as if the individual you are communicating with is untrustworthy, but can be difficult when trying to tell a joke.
there are some issues with received speakers. first of all, they're single person use. you can't swap received speakers, or borrow them, or use one which has been used by another in the past. this is because calibration is very difficult to reverse. it's a very specialized task to reverse the calibration, and it takes a lot of time and energy. so once you've calibrated your received speaker, that's it. this also means that received speakers are a unrenewable resource. there is only so much material to make them, and there are more important things to use it for. for this reason, received speakers are often only provided to certain individuals. rrikrik was given one, as was some of the individuals they work with, but most of their crewmates do not use them.
different beings have different will-energy fields. even with the amplification that received speakers provide, some individuals just won't have the will-energy to broadcast their intention. some individuals also have high resistance to will-energy, and won't be able to receive the intention and often not be able to complete the calibration process. there is also the issue of memetic resistance. memetic resistance can be developed, but some people are just naturally resistant. for example, the sadum species is known for their memetic resistance. this makes sadum immune to cognitive diseases and other harmful things which spread via memetic transferral, but it also makes them immune to received speakers.
received speakers can also be very dangerous. if the memetic conditioning is replaced with a different sort of memetic conditioning, then a received speaker can be used to essentially brainwash or kill people.
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bonebrokebuddy · 2 years
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Can you please do 13 if no one else has already :D
OH HOHO THIS IS A GOOD ONE
13) “You mean, you Don’t actually look human?!”
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Kryptonians canonically have telepathic abilities or at the very least psionic abilities. We’ve talked about the ridiculousness of the silver age catch-all of Super-Hypnosis that Clark would use to make people forget his identity.
It’s one of the explanations DC made to explain why only a simple pair of eyeglasses made such a perfect disguise for Clark Kent the mild-mannered reporter, so no one would suspect he was Superman. Because in Superman # 330, Superman apparently unconsciously hypnotizes everyone who looks at him to making them believe that his face is different than Clark Kent’s.
This has absofuckinglutley been retconned out of existence since but consider, this helps with a fun concept and I also do not care because at one point it was cannon so that means I’m right.
Consider: It’s not just used for disguising reasons.
If it can influence how people perceive kryptonians look, maybe it could also influence people into thinking they looked more human than they actually did.
Now, one thing that’s repeated again and again in Kryptonian society is that they are upheld to the high standard of being at the “peak of physical and mental perfection.”
So, what if this mentality of needing to look at the expectation of physical perfection also transferred unconsciously?
And Because Clark does this unconsciously, that would mean that he looks just a little different to every single person who ever looked at him. So, everyone would see Superman as more of their standards of what they think “physical perfection” means. Now, this would:
Result in literally every person thinking that Superman is ridiculously attractive (this includes ace folks. I’m ace. Doesn’t mean I can’t look at someone and go “they’re hot.” because again, personal idea of physical perfection.)
Would be a great intro into a fun side plot of Jimmy being the definitive Superman photographer because not only did he get the first clear photo of Superman, the telekinetic perception doesn’t fully transfer digitally. In a true “eye of the beholder” fashion, whoever takes the image sets the image how they perceive it. So as Jimmy is the one who showed the world their first image of Superman, Jimmy’s perception of Superman would eventually become The Definitive View Of Superman as it’s just what people would expect Kal-El to look like & so his Superman form would eventually settle into the same form he took in Jimmy’s first few photos.
But that’s just when he’s in his Superman persona. When he’s Clark Kent, he is his own perception of what an “average human” looks like. His frame is still very tall & wide (I mean, there’s no getting around that. have you seen how they draw the guy? His shoulders are a mile long) but it’s filled out in a way that looks very natural for a farm boy from Kansas. Like one of those guys who don’t work out but regardless are fairly muscular & look like they can lift a cow. It so depending on the circumstance Clark looks like a gentle giant who everyone in the office asks to help them lift heavy objects or very intimidating when interrogating a corrupt CEO during an interview, using his height and large frame to tower over them in a looming manner.
In both forms he keeps the eye color, hair color, and rough build because otherwise it would look like he was clipping through objects to onlookers.
As this is an unconscious process, even Clark doesn’t know he’s doing it. He kinda knows in the back of his head but it’s just not something he’s ever registered with conscious thought.
With that in mind:
- The Justice League gets captured by a big bad.
- In addition to other security measures to prevent them from escaping, there is a machine that, while in range of it, it creates a mental block for telepaths and psionic abilities on influencing others. It is intended so J’onn cannot find the hidden location of the Justice League to free them.
- But that’s not the only effect it had.
- Suddenly Bruce is able to see what Clark Actually looks like
- But not just Bruce, Everyone in the Justice League that was trapped (take your pick of who) is now able to see the unnaturally saturated blue eyes in their real hue for the first time
- They are so bright that a camera nor any human technology or earthly pigment would ever be able to reproduce or fully capture the piercing shade of blue that stared straight through their being.
- And his too many perfectly straight and white teeth
- His eyes that now look too large to naturally sit on a human-reminiscent face
- Clark’s brow furrowed when he noticed everyone staring at him. the hinge of his jaw opened wider than what a human’s limitations would allow when he went to ask what was wrong
- the base of his voice is still just a touch too loud
-but underneath his voice is an unearthly booming quality with base just out of human perception but it still sent shivers down their spines as it resonated with the frequency of the room
- The tendons shifting under his skin bulge and twist in ways that seem like they shouldn’t fit under his skin and the placement of muscle groups visible under his suit looked like someone tried to reassemble a human from memory
- His features are just suddenly. Off. Distinctly something other.
The mental mask falls away and the Justice League is able to see the slight wrongness about clark.
It's not the fact that he's a alien that makes their necks prickle, it's the age old instinct of something that looks enough like a human but you just know it's not.
And the ensuing chaos Would Be Fucking Amazing
Because, again, Clark Himself Doesn't Know He’s Doing It.
Addon that I was going to branch off of but decided to leave out of the final cut:
I feel like Bruce would honestly be relieved. It would answer a ton of his questions. Especially seen in Anatomy of a Metahuman, Bruce expresses extreme bafflement over How The Fuck Clark is so human-like despite being an alien. The fact that this would confirm his existing theory littered in small notes on the sides of his drawings in that book that Clark uses some kind of psionics for his powers, would be a huge relief because he finally has answers to how Clark works. Now he can apply proper adjustments to his contingency plans to account for this new discovery.
I just really enjoy the idea that Clark only looks human at first glance but when you take a moment to look at him closely, you can tell that something’s distinctly off about the guy. 
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qoralinius · 1 year
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“Bless the Maker and His water.
Bless the coming and going of Him.
May His passage cleanse the world.
May He keep the world for His people. ”
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1 hour late night dune artwork!
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fetlockflowers · 6 months
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Speculative Biology animation for the Cardassians.
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justletmeramble1701 · 11 days
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After 14's tenure and how they have been headcanoned as "he/they", how do you gender 13? I keep thinking about one of her first lines "Why are you calling me madame?" I know that the joke is that the Doctor has never been a woman before so they aren't used to being called "madame" yet, but, I don't know, something about it seems telling.
When 11 regenerated and thought he was a woman, he panicked. Being a woman instinctively felt wrong, but thirteen felt confusion at being identified with a female honorific. It wasn't exactly a negative reaction, but it wasn't exactly positive a positive one either. It was just kind of neutral. That's not me saying she dislikes being a woman, there are many moments when she revels in it (Demons of the Punjab comes to mind), but those moments also come with new experiences, so who knows.
Now that 14 said that his gender was "the Doctor" (if one reads into the subtext of the pronouns conversation between him and Beep the Meep as that, it could just be read as just a joke), do we think 13 actually identify as a woman or does she just accept that she looks like one, so humans will call her one. She doesn't dislike or like it, she just accepts it.
I don't know if this actually means anything. This could be just another example of Time Lords being a confusingly gender fluid species, but it hasn't left my brain.
If this line of thinking holds, what does it mean for other incarnations? Would 4 care about such a "human" concept? 9 is so uncomfortable around other men. It reads as both the male territorial way and the female threat aversion way. How do 2, 6, and 12 feel about their own gender based on their vibe (I don't know how else to phrase it)?
Again, Time Lords have been presented as a strange form of gender fluid since, I believe, the wilderness years, so who's to say how the Doctor feels about this topic at any given time.
I don't think I actually said anything with this post, but who knows, what do you guys think?
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bluedaddysgirl · 11 months
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Selective breeding of viperhounds by the Txepiva clans
The Txepiva clans, also known in some parts as the Ash People, have no ikran and no pa'li. They are long distance runners and hunters, often on the move. Many of them are nomadic pastoralists, a practice unknown among the rest of the known Na'vi. 
Their habitat, in turn bleak and burnt or rich and green, rarely forms anything close to a forest. The clans are always on the move, frequently fighting over territory, and yet regularly meeting with others in great gatherings. The largest, meant to reunite all the disparate Txepiva clans, is called the Tsawlultxa, and is the perfect opportunity to discover and study the stunning variety of Nìsayntang.
Just like mankind adopted wolves and turned them into dogs, the Txepiva adopted the plains' viperwolves. Millenia of selective breeding created the Nìsayntang, which the RDA catalogues as viperhounds.
Most neighbouring clans outside the Txepiva look down on breeding, preferring to go in the wild to capture their own mounts. We're left to understand it verges on taboo. As usual, the Txepiva seem to hardly care or take notice of their neighbours' distaste.
The relative isolation of each clan has allowed for the development of several subtypes of Nìsayntang. 
Some clans have hounds whose forward arms have evolved to grab prey, while in others it's the secondary pair, with the elongated fingers of the hand coming back to fold over the rib cage in a position reminiscent of the stunbat's secondary arms. 
Another clan breeds specifically for hunting in low light visibility. 
Here are some examples of breeds of Nìsayntang!
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The most standard breed type, seen all across the plateaus and plains. They reach up to a Na'vi's knees or higher, much like a greyhound for humans. They're excellent runners and hunt as a pack, keenly aware of the Na'vi hunters movements. They can carry and manipulate objects with the prehensile limbs that have retracted against their chests. It's most commonly the middle pair of limbs, but as we'll soon see, some clans have bred hounds whose frontal limbs are the ones that evolved to hold and grab.
Nìsayntang are intelligent creatures, keen to help, and capable of understanding complex orders, especially through tsaheylu. This agile breed, quick on its feet, is favoured by the clans that raise srä‘etnaw (the livestock at the source of aforementioned pastoralism).
They'll assist their Na'vi with crafts, carrying things across the camp, leading scouting missions and reporting what they see, or for the best trained one, even hold the meat before it gets grilled! They also use their hands to grab stray srä‘etnaw pups and bring them back into the fold.
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The facial appendages of Nìsayntang are flexible sensory organs. They help them sense their environment, but also play a major role in how they communicate between pack members. Think of the way wolves communicate with their ears, back on Earth. 
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This variation is quite rare, and bred by a single tribe that favours night-time hunting and lives along black volcanic cliffs and lava fields. It's one of the darkest environments known in Pandora, especially during eclipse.
Their Nìsayntang have greater control of their natural bioluminescence, granting them better camouflage. Like a cuttlefish fooling its prey, they can modulate and increase the bioluminosity, creating alluring displays. The sensory strangeness causes their prey to freeze, equally curious and confused, and now vulnerable to ambush. 
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The stem-nisayntang were quite the genetically diverse and chaotic bunch, and the Na'vi of the Ash clans have been practising selective breeding on them for far longer than humans have with dogs. 
This is an example of the aforementioned breeds in which it's the foremost limbs that have developed to extend and grab. It's the largest of the breeds presented in this study, as large to a Na'vi as a lion to humans, and aptly nicknamed "Leonin Hound" by first contact researchers. Their huge, heavy arms make them ambush predators, preferring bursts of speed and action to their cousins' long distance running. Their hands aren't as nimble or crafty, each fingers closer to sharp, robust talons.
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They have serrated teeth that tear through muscle and cartilage with unsettling ease. Their bite can even cut through most of the natural keratinous armour of Pandoran animals. 
Their bodies are covered in bristles that help them sense vibrations in the air and ground. Those keen senses and efficient ambush tactics have gained them a reputation as “All-knowing guard hounds” among travellers who’ve met their keepers.
Despite the fearsome appearance and size, their pack mentality, as well as their ability to bond with their entire clan, make them desirable playmates for children, and it's not rare to see a couple of Txepiva youngsters tasked to guard toddlers and younger children, doing so with the help of their hounds. It's also quite common for them to ride on their back. Despite what a human might think of such a sight, it's as safe and natural to the Txepiva as riding an ilu as a child is for the Metkayina. 
Bred to fend off the fearsome wildlife of the plains, the Leonin hounds are fiercely efficient at it and seem to have had their sense of fear bred right out of them. As such, they're one of the most widespread breeds in the plains. A handful of clans produce pups, and some are then traded at the great yearly Txepiva gathering. A clan might have their own specialised breed that has been living alongside them for untold generations, and still keep a couple of the Leonin hounds to help safeguard their camps.
Part I of @straydaddy (art and design) and @bluedaddysgirl (lore concept) in-world collaborative study, "Introduction to the Txepiva clans, their nomadic pastoralism and niche selective breeding practices in species of stingbats and viperwolves". On twitter we are Knarme and Bluedaddysgirl
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troythecatfish · 5 months
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Here’s my personal recommendation of a YouTube video to check out:
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birdantlers · 8 months
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(Click to enlarge—tumblr kinda nuked these ngl)
Finished the second book the other day. Dreamworks please puss in boots this shit I'll give you a million dollars I regret to inform you that my smekday moment is turning into a smekday hyperfixation (⁠~⁠_⁠~⁠;⁠) oops. Sorry to all my followers who are probably Very confused dw I'm right there with you.
More below 👇 art + lots of meta bc spec bio and making shit up is my fav
Funsize wasn't in it as much as I hoped he'd be, but I liked him a lot. I wanted to see how he'd look in the Dreamworks style. I also made him look a bit more roughed up and grimy than he is in the book, for character design as well as adding oomph to his arc even if it's short. Since this takes place 2 years later, I gave J.LOh the hoodie he had in at the end of TMOS. it's cute.
One day he took the wrong tunnel coming back to the trash pit, which ended with him getting sucked into a paper shredder. Even though he managed to hear it and slow down, he was going headfirst, and one of his siphons got caught in the blades. His arm also got caught when he instinctively reached out to stop his fall.
Like most adaptations, Home included, I did not so much headcanons or fic as a slightly alternate take on Funsize.
The idea was that after Bish left, he got cocky with his excursions. He quit using/making his maps under the assumption that he knew the ducts well enough, but you only have to be unlucky once.
The blades were short and they don't have arteries in their arms (headcanon that in a nutshell, boov can't bleed out unless an artery is hit. Their veins contract reflexively when exposed to dry air, but their arteries can't are you feeling the autism yet), so it wasn't fatal, but FS did get cut up pretty bad. He was blinded in one eye, and his siphon is unable to grow back due to his generally poor health living in an underground landfill. Even if FS improved his health somehow, he'd still have to remove the scar tissue, which is extremely painful without surgery especially for wounds this extensive.
Funsize's siphon has its own slew of problems. His balance is terrible, and since it's basically torn down the middle, clipping it shut isn't really an option. Mostly, he just steals various antiseptic/saline products from people's houses if he can find any, but he still gets sick from time to time.
FS learned his lesson though, he's very careful when venturing out, and he built the little hover stools as a safeguard if he does fall down the wrong way again. He’s still bitter abt everything (and maybe a little unstable tbh) but thankfully, he’s an optimist.
Bonus little post-book comic:
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i would want him to be voiced by richard horvitz tbh
Sorry for the lengthy explanation, I love speculative bio & I happen to have a cephalopod special interest too so . Autism ley lines yk how it is
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junipershouse · 8 months
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all about kkariko! the infodump is finally ready.
kkariko are soft-bodied invertibrate creatures hailing from a planet known as rika. they're social and familial, living in highly complex family groups. they also make extensive use of tools and accessories in their daily lives. in this way, their behavioral model resembles the behavioral models of humans, but kkariko have some major differences too. an example - kkariko have five "sexes" - or maybe they have no sexes? all kkariko are born "neuter", with the organs used for recreation vestigal in their bodies. however, kkariko can develop into one of four "sexual" sexes to play certain roles in mating and infant rearing. kkariko are able to switch sex multiple times in their lives - it's seen as cosmetic to them. the five socially recognized kkariko sexes are thus: neuter sex, the sex which kkariko are born as. egglayer sex, the sex which can inject pheromones into another kkariko, receive "spermatophores", and lay eggs. inseminator sex, the sex which can make "spermatophores" (actually more like "spear" matophores). brooding sex, the sex which can grow a pouch and grow eggs in it and feed babies using their specialized mouth organ. and finally, protector sex, which also has a special mouth organ and a "spine" for protecting babies.
kkariko babies start life as eggs. eventually, they hatch, and just look like tiny little kkariko. kkariko at such a young age molt many times, and with each molt, they grow more and more. molting intensity usually tapers off after the 27th molt, and size change only gets smaller and molt frequency lower as kkariko age. kkariko have very high infant mortality rates - on average, a clutch of kkariko eggs numbers 20, but its considered lucky if just 4 survive to their 27th molt. rrikrik was in a clutch of 17, but half were laid "out of pouch" (common in almost all kkariko cultures, ensures that brooder attention isn't so divided) and only two ended up hatching.
kkariko have two possible pigments used in their skin. one pigment creates red/pink colors, whilst the other creates blue/gray colors. both can coexist on a single body - like a calico cat - as well as patches of different intensity of pigmentation which can produce darker or lighter pigmentation. these pigments also determine the eye color of kkariko. however, kkariko tend to have a "base color" which affects the tint on their exoskeletons. base color isn't neccesarily the most abundant color on a kkariko.
their bodies are long and squishy, with thick, highly pressured "blood" keeping their muscles and organs in place. kkariko have four pairs of legs, and they alternate between an all-legs undulatory gait and a quadrapedal four beat gait depending on the movement speed and additional actions required of them. they can also stand up on their back legs for intimidation points. but their balance is pretty bad in this state and they can't walk without lots of practice and lower leg strength. at the end of each limb, they have three digits encased in flexible exoskeleton. two digits at the very end of the limb, and one slightly down. these digits can be used to grasp things and manipulate objects, although they're generally clumsy. they also have a long, fat, tapering tail. this tail can be moved independently, but is usually just dragged along the ground behind the kkariko due to its weight. kkariko have a small, round head at the end of their body, where many of their sensory organs are.
kkariko heads are pretty simple. it is on their head that a kkariko has their two pairs of eyes, their primary mucus ducts, their facial palps, their antennae, their mouth, and their first lung. the first pair of kkariko eyes are kind of a hybrid between forward-facing and side-facing. they've got a wide degree of vision. this eyeset sees pretty well, and is generally used to identify objects near the kkariko's face. for this reason, they're nearsighted. the second pair of eyes sits above the kkariko's head and protude upwards. this pair can see nearly 260 degrees around the kkariko, and experiences vision in a very abstracted way, largely triggered by bright colors and movement. these eyes also move independently of each other. as a prey animal, kkariko have evolved this set of eyes to continually watch around them as they use their first set of eyes to look for food and watch their friends. both eyes jut out from the head of the kkariko when in use. the lower set of eyes have a pair of semi-translucent eyelids which occasionally can hydrate the eye, but kkariko generally don't need to blink much. the upper pair of eyes don't need to blink at all, because they have a thick protective coating. both pairs of eyes are retractable, however, and when kkariko are getting ready to go sleep, they retract them back into their heads, with only a thin indigo line showing where they will pop out of later. just below their eyes is their primary mucus ducts, which produce a mucus which covers kkariko skin to keep it from drying out and getting burnt. there are more mucus ducts on their "wrists" and their tail.
the antennae sit behind the second pair of eyes, and are used to sense different types of waves and particles in the air. they process this into audible sound, vibrational information, and electromagnetic data. kkariko can have anywhere from three to five sets of antennae, and can grow an extra pair for sensing pheromones when engaging in sex. antennae can also be used to make a loud whirring noise when rubbed together or a low "clicking" noise when the bases of the antennae (known as "bulbs") grind together in the antennae sockets. these noises are recognized as distinct phones in kkariko language.
the mouth of the kkariko is typically hidden behind their exterior set of palps. these two tentacle-like appendages are used by kkariko to "taste" the air and food, to produce sounds, and to manipulate objects. kkariko palps have much finer motor control than their "hands", so delicate tasks like making art or preparing food are usually done using the exterior palps. behind these palps is the mouth. the mouth of the kkariko is indigo-violet (the color of their blood) and contains a pair of interior palps, two flat "teeth" used for crushing food, and a pair of holes, one used for communication and another used for eating. the interior palps are much thinner than the exterior palps, but serve the same purpose as their exterior friends. its a bit hard to use them to make art, as they can't reach that far outside the mouth. the lower tooth juts out of the mouth and can be moved with a good degree of freedom. when a kkariko's mouth is closed, it pushes up under the palps and the edges of the mouth retract around it, leaving the lower tooth as the only mouth organ visible. when the mouth is open, the lower tooth keeps it by moving down. the lower tooth and the upper tooth mash together to grind food up into a convenient paste, and then the interior palps and kkariko saliva helps move the food down to the esophagus, which is situated below the palps. above the palps is the kkariko's speech hole - closed during eating. kkariko are kind of messy eaters!
kkariko language is, as previously discussed, in part constructed around antennae sounds. but there is a vocal element of it too. kkariko have several groupings of lungs down their bodies, and the first lung sits at the back of their head just below their first cerebral ganglia, which is part of a long network which also travels all the way down their bodies. the lungs of the kkariko intake air from little holes underneath the "lip" of their back exoskeletons. this first lung is connected to the very end of their second exoskeleton plate, which wraps around their head to support it. connected to this lung is an "accordian" organ, which produces a melodious buzzing noise by expanding and contracting with pushed air from the lung out to the noise hole at the top of the kkariko's mouth. tone and intensity can be adjusted, and kkariko will adjust the position of their two pairs of palps and their tooth to make different noises with it. kkariko also rumble their teeth together and smack them together to speak.
on their backs, kkariko grow a heavy plated exoskeleton, used for defense and protection. this exoskeleton stretches from the head of the kkariko all the way down to their tail, ending in a spiked fanlike form which can be used to defend a kkariko. rika is very rich in metal, and heavy metals often enter kkariko diets via the plant life they eat. kkariko have very efficient filtering systems for both water and metals - water is recycled back into the body entirely and eventually expelled in defensive, stinking "farts", and metals are either pooped out in very hard and compacted dry poops, or stored in a specialized organ and used to built their exoskeletons during molts. this is where the colors in their exoskeletons come from - all the metals they eat. some of the metals even oxidize in air, and change color as time moves on! this metallic shell is very heavy, and because of that, kkariko have very strong and muscular bodies. the gravity on rika is also pretty strong, so that also aids in their big buff physiques. the exoskeleton restricts their movements somewhat - kkariko are able to move their limbs pretty freely, and can curl up into a tiny ball, but cannot arch their bodies back that far because the plates on their back prevent much movement. the kkariko in this sheet doing some sort of stretching is probably the extent to how far back a kkariko can stretch without hurting themselves.
kkariko culture is highly complex and varied. rika is hot and arid, and many kkariko live nomadic or seminomadic lives. i'll probably write another post about kkariko cultures, because this one is very long. i guess the most important thing to discuss here is kkariko fashion. kkariko are generally not very modest - they don't need to be, because their shell protects them from most weather. however, all cultures are different, and some kkariko do wear full-body clothing. the most common universal piece of clothing are "armwarmers", which wrap around the limbs like socks. kkariko often wear matching pairs for all eight of their limbs. bibs, hats, capes and aprons are also common, as well as tail aprons which protect the tail from sharp terrain when moving across the ground. tail aprons are a bit like underwear because they also cover genitals.
rowny and rrikrik for reference. rowny is 6ft tall.
v page i made when i was trying to figure out how kkariko communicate + kkariko funny faces v
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